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Revisiting Bulletin Boards

I have written about my relationship with bulletin boards before. I love them, but I hate them. At best, they engage library patrons, highlight the collection, and give a tired librarian a much needed break and opportunity to do something hands-on and deeply satisfying.

At worst, they require you to put up bulletin board paper.

That’s a big downside.

For Martin Luther King Jr. Day last year, I circumvented my intense dislike of hanging bulletin board paper by not covering the entire board. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but I really liked it! I wrote hopes I have for the future on the hearts myself, but this would be a great collaborative project for your community too.

I am positive I got the idea for this bulletin board from someone else, but I can’t remember who! If you have any ideas, please let me know so I can credit them.

This is one of those ideas that started out as a really great idea, but got a little away from me. The original plan was to have it look like the hearts were spilling out of the book, but I made too many and it ended up looking like I just threw up hearts over the whole bulletin board. It stayed up for at least three months anyway.

This is the last bulletin board I worked on before I left my last library. I made it with one of my very favorite people and one of my very favorite coworkers (lucky me- they’re the same person!) and it was the best thing I could have done on one of my last days. We traced Hafuboti’s amazing artwork using a projector and then painted the pieces. We put this one right in the entrance of our library. What better message can you greet your patrons with then a reminder that they are welcome and safe in this space, no matter who they are?

In all honesty, I really do love bulletin boards. They can make a really big statement about who, and what, your library values. Libraries are for everyone, but not everyone knows that. Let your display space serve as a reminder to your community- and your staff!- that we are here to serve.